Italian Wedding Soup
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Simple, quick and easy with homemade tender, juicy, chicken meatballs, hearty veggies and pasta. Freezer-friendly too!
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reasons to make Italian wedding soup
- Fancy weeknight meal. Italian wedding soup is perfect for busy weeknights, prepping the meatballs ahead of time, but also fancy enough for dinner parties and weekend company without any of the fuss.
- Cozy soup vibes. As the weather starts to cool down, warm up with the coziest bowl of soup, made with the most flavorful, rich broth, juicy, tender meatballs, hearty sneaked-in veggies and short cut pasta, all finished with a little sprinkling of freshly grated Parmesan on top.
- Freezer-friendly. Make a big batch of soup to freeze for later for a rainy day. Freeze in individual servings for super convenient grab-and-go dinners for months to come!
what is Italian wedding soup
Known as minestra maritata meaning “wedded soup”, Italian wedding soup is the holy matrimony between meat, vegetables and pasta in a chicken broth. Ironically, Italian wedding soup is not relevant to weddings in Italy.
italian wedding soup VS. minestrone
Both Italian wedding soup and minestrone are Italian soups, but Italian wedding soup typically includes meatballs as a hero ingredient whereas minestrone is traditionally a vegetable-based soup with hearty beans, often times without meat.
tips and tricks for success
- Prep the meatballs ahead of time. The meatballs can be assembled up to 1 day in advance and placed in the fridge until ready to use. The uncooked meatballs can also be stored in the freezer for up to 1 month (once flash freezing), thawing overnight in the fridge. For a quicker shortcut, substitute frozen mini meatballs.
- Use good-quality stock. The better quality your stock, the better your soup. Many brands love to pack in the salt so always opt for unsalted or a lower-sodium variety. Homemade stock is even better.
- Use short cut pasta. Ditalini, orzo, acini di pepe or a small shape pasta is ideal.
- Add in leafy greens. This is a great recipe to sneak in leafy greens for those picky eaters. Kale, spinach, collard greens, swiss chard, or arugula are all great options.
- Add freshly squeezed lemon juice. Lemon juice will elevate your Italian wedding soup, adding a fresh, bright flavor and balancing out all the saltiness and richness of the soup.
- Store pasta separately for leftovers. When planning for leftovers, store the cooked ditalini pasta separately from the soup to prevent it from soaking up all the broth.
- Serve with crusty bread. Serve with all the homemade crusty bread for dipping, sopping and dunking!
what to serve with italian wedding soup
Tools For This Recipe
Dutch oven
Italian Wedding Soup: Frequently Asked Questions
Not at all! Ground beef, ground pork or ground turkey can be used instead of ground chicken.
Panko is a Japanese-style breadcrumb and can be found in the Asian section of your local grocery store. Similar to traditional breadcrumbs, Panko serves as a binder to hold the meatballs together, but its larger, flakier texture creates a crispier, crunchier, lighter crust on the meatballs.
Place the uncooked meatballs on a baking sheet lined with wax paper or parchment paper, freezing for 1 hour until solid. Transfer the meatballs to an airtight, resealable freezer bag. Label, date and freeze up to 1 month.
You can use either chicken broth or chicken stock but always season, to taste, as store-bought broth is often saltier than store-bought stock. Broth is made from meat and vegetables while stock is often lower sodium and thicker than broth, and is made from bones and vegetables. absolutely be used here but chicken thighs have more dark meat and a higher fat content which will yield juicier, more flavorful chicken.
Kale, cabbage, swiss chard and collard greens are all great subs.
Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 2-3 days.
Yes! You can freeze the leftovers without the pasta (or else they will get mushy). Let cool completely; portion into plastic freezer bags in individual servings, squeezing out any excess air before sealing. Lay the bags flat in a single layer in the freezer (this will help them freeze quickly). To reheat, thaw overnight in the fridge, reheating over low heat until heated through, adding freshly cooked pasta when serving.
Italian Wedding Soup
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 1 onion, diced
- 3 carrots, peeled and diced
- 2 ribs celery, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 8 cups chicken stock
- 2 bay leaves
- ½ cup ditalini pasta
- 3 sprigs fresh thyme
- 1 sprig fresh rosemary
- 3 cups baby spinach, chopped
- 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- ¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan
For the chicken meatballs
- ½ pound ground chicken
- ½ pound chicken sausage, casing removed
- ⅓ cup Panko
- ¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan
- 1 large egg
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon dried basil
- ½ teaspoon dried parsley
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Equipment
Instructions
- Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add chicken meatballs, in batches, and cook until all sides are browned, about 2-3 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate; set aside.
- Add remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil to the stockpot. Add onion, carrots and celery. Cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 3-4 minutes. Stir in garlic until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Stir in chicken stock and bay leaves; bring to a boil.
- Stir in ditalini, thyme, rosemary and meatballs; reduce heat and simmer until pasta is tender and meatballs are cooked through, about 9-12 minutes.
- Stir in spinach, lemon juice and parsley until spinach has wilted, about 2 minutes; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Serve immediately, garnished with Parmesan, if desired.
For the chicken meatballs
- In a large bowl, combine ground chicken, chicken sausage, Panko, Parmesan, egg, oregano, basil, parsley and garlic powder; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Using a wooden spoon or clean hands, stir until well combined. Roll the mixture into 3/4-to-1-inch meatballs, forming about 25-30 meatballs.
Did you make this recipe?
Tag @damn_delicious on Instagram and hashtag it #damndelicious!
This is amazing! Made the recipe just as written, except I tossed a parmesan rind into the soup since I had one in the freezer instead of adding grated. The lemon really makes this soup sing. This is a
definite keeper. Thank you!!!!
Awesome!
I loved this soup! I used ground pork and pork sausage instead of chicken because that’s what I had on hand. And I think I added an extra splash of lemon juice, but otherwise followed the recipe. It was really good!!
That’s great!
This was fabulous! The meatballs were tasty, veggies cooked perfectly, etc. You know it’s a winner when your kid is trying to steal spoonfuls as you’re putting it in a thermos for her lunch 😉
Awesome, Gwen!
This looks delicious and perfect for a fall day like today in New England! What kind of chicken sausage did you use? There are so many different flavors! Thank you 🙂
I actually did not use a particular brand – I found it at the meat counter at Whole Foods. 🙂
This looks darn good. I wonder the motive behind the name. Anyways, can tofu be used for this recipe? I think that would give it a different touch.
Yes, of course!
Would this work with ground pork? I have a pound of it in my freezer (Prime Now sent me the wrong item) and I have no idea what to do with it!
Yes, absolutely!
made the meatball soup and it was delicious !
It’s the best!
Is it possible to make this in the Instant Pot pressure cooker?
What a great idea! But unfortunately, without further recipe testing, I cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment regarding substitutions and modifications.
This looks delicious! Do you think it would hold up ok if frozen? Thanks – Love your site!! Every time I make one of your recipes, it’s a winner 🙂
Yes, you can certainly freeze but I would recommend freezing without the pasta and cheese. Hope that helps!
That photo is making me so hungry! I have never seen that pasta before, really want to get hold of it and experiment with it. Thanks so much for sharing (:
This is a great recipe, especially since all the veggies are nice n ripe thanks to the summer sunshine! Gonna have to crank up the AC after eating some soup tho
What if you don’t use chicken sausage. How much total ground chicken would I use. This looks delicious
You can substitute the same amount for the chicken sausage. 🙂
This looks amazing. Would it make much difference in the meatballs if I only used ground chicken? I really don’t like any kind of
sausage.
Yes, that should work just fine! 🙂
Thank you! I have searched and searched for a Wedding Soup recipe and have not found one that I’ve even considered trying. I am definitely making this tonight! I don’t usually post until after I’ve tried a recipe but I just had to say thanks! I’ve tried enough of your recipes to just know this will be delicious!